Sugar cane harvesters are equipped with sugar cane topping devices which take off the upper part of a sugar cane stalk since it does not contain a worthwhile amount of sugar. Conventional topping devices operate such that the top of the sugar cane stalk is severed and thrown into the furrow adjacent to the row being harvested. The transport vehicle runs upon the discarded tops on the next pass through the field. In wet weather this becomes a problem. The tops tend to collect and are pushed in front of the non-powered front tires of the transport tractor or the non-powered tires of the transport wagon. This continues until the transport can no longer push the pile. If at this point, the pile is too high to climb, the transport must back up and try to jump the pile. This problem can get so bad that harvesting operations must be suspended.
In order to alleviate this “bull dozing” operation, topper/shredders have been used that shred the tops into smaller pieces. An example of a topper/shredder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,700, granted to Fowler on Apr. 2, 2002. These devices have been used on both wholestick and chopper harvesters for many years, and are not as efficient in throwing the small shredded pieces as far as the conventional whole piece toppers. This results in some portion of the tops dropping into the throat of the harvester. To deliver cane having no more extraneous matter than that delivered by a harvester equipped with a conventional whole piece topper, the forward speed of the machine must be reduced.